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BUF at SD - Sat. 10pm ET on ESPNews Schedule

×
WK
1
Fri, Dec 2
FINAL
Philadelphia
8
Halifax
18
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Vancouver
8
Toronto
19
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
San Diego
15
New York
14
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Albany
11
Buffalo
10
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Rochester
16
Georgia
11
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Colorado
6
Saskatchewan
18
WK
2
Fri, Dec 9
FINAL
Las Vegas
11
Panther City
13
Fri, Dec 9
FINAL/OT
Saskatchewan
12
San Diego
13
Sat, Dec 10
FINAL
Toronto
7
Rochester
11
Sat, Dec 10
FINAL
Vancouver
9
Calgary
11
WK
3
Fri, Dec 16
FINAL
Calgary
14
Vancouver
5
Fri, Dec 16
FINAL
Panther City
9
Las Vegas
3
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Buffalo
11
Toronto
8
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Rochester
14
Albany
13
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Philadelphia
13
Georgia
12
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Halifax
20
New York
11
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Colorado
12
Panther City
9
WK
5
Fri, Dec 30
FINAL
Halifax
13
Buffalo
18
Fri, Dec 30
FINAL
San Diego
17
Calgary
14
Sat, Dec 31
FINAL
Panther City
9
Saskatchewan
11
WK
6
Fri, Jan 6
FINAL
Philadelphia
14
Las Vegas
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Panther City
9
Rochester
17
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Halifax
14
Albany
11
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Buffalo
18
Georgia
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Toronto
15
New York
7
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Calgary
8
Colorado
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Vancouver
11
San Diego
16
WK
7
Fri, Jan 13
FINAL/OT
Albany
11
Halifax
10
Fri, Jan 13
FINAL/OT
Saskatchewan
10
Colorado
11
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Halifax
8
Toronto
17
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Panther City
12
Philadelphia
10
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Georgia
9
Buffalo
11
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
San Diego
10
Calgary
14
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Las Vegas
16
Vancouver
19
Sun, Jan 15
FINAL
Rochester
11
New York
8
WK
8
Fri, Jan 20
FINAL
Buffalo
12
Rochester
15
Fri, Jan 20
FINAL
Vancouver
14
Las Vegas
15
Sat, Jan 21
FINAL
Toronto
14
Philadelphia
5
Sat, Jan 21
FINAL
New York
16
Albany
10
WK
9
Fri, Jan 27
FINAL
Rochester
7
Halifax
17
Fri, Jan 27
FINAL
Buffalo
13
Philadelphia
9
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Buffalo
16
New York
10
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Las Vegas
10
Saskatchewan
15
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL/OT
Toronto
11
Calgary
10
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
San Diego
13
Colorado
9
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Panther City
20
Vancouver
7
WK
10
Fri, Feb 3
FINAL
Georgia
10
Colorado
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL/OT
Calgary
12
Halifax
11
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
New York
14
Toronto
22
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Albany
5
Philadelphia
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Rochester
10
Buffalo
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Panther City
10
San Diego
12
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Saskatchewan
14
Vancouver
8
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Colorado
8
Las Vegas
13
WK
11
Fri, Feb 10
FINAL
Toronto
11
Georgia
10
Fri, Feb 10
FINAL
Saskatchewan
6
Calgary
13
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Halifax
14
Rochester
16
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Albany
12
New York
14
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Vancouver
13
Panther City
14
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Colorado
9
Calgary
13
WK
12
Fri, Feb 17
FINAL
Calgary
14
Vancouver
9
Fri, Feb 17
FINAL
Saskatchewan
16
San Diego
11
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Georgia
7
Toronto
16
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Las Vegas
12
Albany
10
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL/OT
Philadelphia
12
Buffalo
13
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Colorado
7
Panther City
13
Sun, Feb 19
FINAL
New York
12
Halifax
13
WK
13
Fri, Feb 24
FINAL
Panther City
12
Colorado
14
Fri, Feb 24
FINAL
Calgary
9
Las Vegas
11
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL/OT
New York
10
Rochester
11
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL
Albany
4
Georgia
20
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL
Vancouver
16
Saskatchewan
12
WK
14
Fri, Mar 3
FINAL
Buffalo
10
Halifax
9
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
New York
12
Philadelphia
19
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Las Vegas
12
San Diego
15
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Rochester
8
Toronto
9
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL/OT
Georgia
9
Albany
8
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Saskatchewan
10
Panther City
16
Mon, Mar 6
FINAL
Toronto
10
Philadelphia
11
WK
15
Fri, Mar 10
FINAL/OT
Halifax
9
Buffalo
10
Fri, Mar 10
FINAL
Calgary
16
Colorado
10
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Albany
6
Toronto
12
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Philadelphia
10
New York
13
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
San Diego
12
Saskatchewan
11
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Vancouver
14
Las Vegas
5
Sun, Mar 12
FINAL
Rochester
19
Georgia
18
WK
16
Fri, Mar 17
FINAL
Saskatchewan
6
Calgary
11
Fri, Mar 17
FINAL
San Diego
16
Vancouver
9
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Georgia
13
Philadelphia
12
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Toronto
12
Halifax
14
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Albany
10
New York
13
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Colorado
13
Buffalo
8
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Las Vegas
8
Panther City
11
Sun, Mar 19
FINAL/OT
Philadelphia
9
Rochester
8
WK
17
Fri, Mar 24
FINAL
San Diego
17
Panther City
9
Sat, Mar 25
19:00:00
Toronto
Albany
Sat, Mar 25
19:00:00
Halifax
Philadelphia
Sat, Mar 25
19:30:00
Georgia
New York
Sat, Mar 25
21:30:00
Calgary
Saskatchewan
Sat, Mar 25
22:00:00
Buffalo
San Diego
Sat, Mar 25
22:00:00
Colorado
Vancouver
Sat, Mar 25
22:30:00
Rochester
Las Vegas
WK
18
Fri, Mar 31
19:00:00
New York
Georgia
Fri, Mar 31
21:00:00
Las Vegas
Colorado
Fri, Mar 31
22:00:00
Calgary
San Diego
Sat, Apr 1
19:00:00
Buffalo
Toronto
Sat, Apr 1
20:00:00
Albany
Panther City
Sat, Apr 1
21:30:00
Vancouver
Saskatchewan
Sun, Apr 2
13:00:00
Georgia
Halifax
Sun, Apr 2
18:00:00
Rochester
Philadelphia
WK
19
Sat, Apr 8
19:00:00
Albany
Rochester
Sat, Apr 8
19:00:00
Saskatchewan
Georgia
Sat, Apr 8
21:00:00
Panther City
Calgary
Sat, Apr 8
21:00:00
Vancouver
Colorado
Sat, Apr 8
22:30:00
San Diego
Las Vegas
WK
20
Fri, Apr 14
21:00:00
Las Vegas
Calgary
Fri, Apr 14
21:00:00
San Diego
Colorado
Sat, Apr 15
19:00:00
Philadelphia
Toronto
Sat, Apr 15
19:00:00
Georgia
Albany
Sat, Apr 15
19:30:00
New York
Buffalo
Sat, Apr 15
21:30:00
Halifax
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 15
22:00:00
Panther City
Vancouver
WK
21
Fri, Apr 21
20:30:00
Calgary
Panther City
Sat, Apr 22
18:00:00
New York
Halifax
Sat, Apr 22
19:00:00
Georgia
Rochester
Sat, Apr 22
20:00:00
Toronto
Buffalo
Sat, Apr 22
21:30:00
Colorado
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 22
22:00:00
Las Vegas
San Diego
Sun, Apr 23
15:00:00
Philadelphia
Albany
WK
22
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Philadelphia
Rochester
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Buffalo
Albany
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Halifax
Georgia
Sat, Apr 29
22:00:00
Colorado
San Diego
Sat, Apr 29
22:00:00
New York
Vancouver
Sat, Apr 29
22:30:00
Saskatchewan
Las Vegas
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Game Recaps

Wings comeback falls short after celebration of return to Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA — There were colorful lights on the floor and the ceiling and the glass. There was an enormous chrome letter W. It had lights, too. And four flamethrowers sat adjacent. In the lower level, men in kilts blared bagpipes. A third musician drummed between them. A youth lacrosse team stormed the field after a video animation played on the same surface. Hot tubs bubbled upstairs.

 

Halfway through all the commotion that came with lacrosse’s jubilous return to the Wells Fargo Center, the home team was introduced. They bumped fists. They pumped up a crowd of 11,023. They watched their predecessors trickle out of a tunnel to the sound of roaring applause. Then, with helmets on and sticks in hand, they stood and watched as banners honoring their franchise’s championship history — and the three players who most contributed to it — ascended to the rafters.

 

“It was like Philly never left,” rookie forward Chris Cloutier said.

 

Later, Wings head coach and general manager Paul Day acknowledged the idle time might have played a part in the quick three-goal deficit in which his team found itself at the onset of an eventual 17-15 loss to the Buffalo Bandits (1-0) on Saturday afternoon.

 

But the celebration, he said, was worth it.

 

“It was fantastic to see the banners go up and all the old guys I used to play against and coach against,” Day said, “I’m not going to use that as an excuse, that’s for sure.”

 

Minutes before all the pomp and circumstance, the Wings’ arena host interviewed a fan on the jumbotron. The fan, clad in a red and black jersey representative of an era now gone, answered questions about his favorite favorite lacrosse team’s return with excitement. But when he was asked about what would make all of this excitement worthwhile, the fan offered a one-word reply.

 

“Winning,” the fan said.

 

As assistant captain Jordan Hall and young forwards Cloutier and Matt Rambo answered questions after the game, that was the reality to which they continuously came back. The Wings lost. The intensity of pregame festivities evaporated before Philadelphia could even touch the ball, because the Bandits took 30 seconds to turn the opening faceoff into a Thomas Hoggarth goal. A quiet crowd fell nearly silent after Corey Small added one of five first-half goals a little more than a minute later.

 

But that intensity didn’t wane in the Wings. Despite not beating Buffalo goalie Matt Vinc once in the game’s first nine minutes, Josh Currier leveled a Bandit over the boards and into the visitor’s bench. Wings goalie Doug Buchan made some impressive saves. And when transition Vaughn Harris scored to make it 3-1, the scoreboard showed the signs of life that the Wings never fully lost.

 

The two teams mostly traded goals for the remainder of the half. Cloutier and Currier notched one goal each. Defenseman Steph Charbonneau popped a surprise goal in transition. Hall set a firm off-ball screen and rolled to the crease for an easy goal of his own. But when Buffalo defender Steve Priolo rolled a ball underneath Buchan for a 10-7 Bandits lead midway through the second quarter, Day opted for Davide DiRuscio, who stopped five of six shots on net before halftime, several of which came in a five-on-three situation.

 

“It’s great just to change the momentum,” Day said. “We’ve got two young goalies. Twenty-four and 26. They’re both going to play a lot this year. We’ve said this: we’re going to score by committee, we’re going to defend by committee and we’re going to goaltend by committee. We don’t have any NLL all-stars from last year or the year before, but that’s good. We’re going to grow.”

 

The Wings showed signs of that desired maturity in the second half. With a 13-9 deficit, Matt Rambo emerged from a timeout, buried his first career goal and appropriately pumped a celebratory fist. Minutes later, Cloutier and defender Frank Brown coupled two goals in a 30-second span. The Wings won the quarter. They took a man-up situation into the final period. Then, after 10 minutes of flirting with a tie game, Currier won a ground ball in the corner of the offensive zone and dove straight at the net for some unassisted heroics to knot the contest at 15 goals apiece.

 

Every time Philadelphia secured the ball, its fan base howled at the prospect of a go-ahead point. It never came. Shawn Evans reclaimed the Bandits’ lead with a minute left. He lept into the boards and jawed with a disgusted home crowd. But when insurance goal got wiped away after video review showed a crease violation, the Wings — yet again — had a chance to tie. They couldn’t convert after pulling DiRuscio for an extra offensive asset. The frustration came out when Wings defender Chet Koneczny and Buffalo defender Mitch de Snoo dropped gloves in the final seconds, renewing the passion that has defined this heated rivalry for decades.

 

“I kind of think Buffalo is one of the teams to beat,” Day said. “They could be the best team in the east. We’re a very young team and we made some young mistakes, but it’s a great learning experience for us.”

 

That is the solace in an 0-1 record for a franchise that is still rightly celebrating existence. Hall, the assistant captain, missed training camp and just Friday night introduced himself to most of the guys on the team. Finnish defender Joakim Miller flew in from his home country a few hours earlier, but he and the injured Blaze Riorden should be available in two weeks. And neither assistant coach, Tracey Kelusky or Ian Rubel, were present for the season opener. It will take time to find an ideal form.

 

“We just had Pauly running around with a clipboard and yelling at refs and trying to coach us,” Hall joked. “You never want to lose, but I think we got better throughout the game, and that’s at least good to build on for our next one against Rochester.”

 

NLL